Hop-drying box.



No. 667,478. Patented Feb. 5, I90l.

A. WOLF.

HOP DRYING BOX.

( Application filed Oct. 18, 1900.)

No Model.)

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fla oyh zz M g 17 By I ATTORNEYS UNHTE STATES ADOLF WOLF, OF SILVERTON, OREGON.

HOP-DRYING BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 667,478, dated February 5, 1901. Application filed October 18, 1900. Serial No. 33,485. (No model.)

To M7, whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ADOLF W'OLF, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Silverton, in the county of Marion and State of Oregon, have invented a new and Improved Hop- Drying Box, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to boxes for holding loose material, such as hops, in the process of drying the same, and has for its object to provide a construction which permits the box to be readily turned upside down without discharging the contents thereof and while leaving the top open for a thorough evaporation and escape of steam. For this purpose I provide the box with a removable top and a removable bottom, constructed and secured in a novel manner, as will be fully described hereinafter, and particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both the figures.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a dryingbox constructed according to my invention with the top raised off the body, and Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional elevation on line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

The improved drying-box has the shape of a rectangular prism, and comprises a skeleton frame for each of its walls. The frame comprises horizontal top and bottom bars A for the sides, upright end bars A, a central bar A diagonal braces A extending from the top bar A to the end bars A, and longitudinal seating-bars A secured to the bars A upon the inside thereof and at a distance from the top or bottom surfaces of said bars. It will be seen by reference to Fig. 2 that the upright end or corner bars A are about twice as thick as the other frame-bars. The seating-bars A might be formed integral with the bars A. The ends of the frame comprise top and bottom bars B set on the corner-bars A and provided wit-h seating strips or bars B, which may be integral with the bars B, and with diagonal braces B connecting said bars B. The parts so far described are rigidly connected and form a rectangular boxbody, open at the bottom and at the top.

The top and bottom are constructed alike,

and each of them consists of a rectangular skeleton frame having side bars O and end bars 0, these being adapted to fit between the bars A B and to become seated on the bars or strips A 13, so that the outer surfaces of the top or bottom will be substantially flush with those of the box-body.

The top and bottom are provided with a longitudinal central bar 0 and a ventilatingcoveringD of sackcloth or other open-meshed or pervious material is secured to the top and bottom frame upon the outside, and passes in contact with the inner face of the central bar 0 so that said ventilating covering forms two inclined inwardly-converging portions, thus increasing the surface. A similar ventilating-covering D is placed around the boxbody.

To removably secure the top and bottom to the box-body, I provide the side bars 0 of the top and bottom and the side bars A of the box-body with apertures 0 and A respectively, adapted to register and to receive slidable connecting-pins E. To render the outer ends of these pins readily accessible, I prefer to provide the bars A with recesses A.

In operation the box, closed at the bottom and open at the top, is filled with the material to be dried, as hops, and is'then placed (open at the top) in the drying-kiln. The heat will drive out the moisture, which escapes as steam or vapor partly through the covering D, but mostly through the open top of the box. The heating medium has good access to the hops or other material through the ventilating-coverings D and D. After the drying has progressed for a certain time the top is put on the open box-body, and the pins E are inserted in the apertures A and O to securely connect the top with the box-body. Then the box (which is now closed) is turned upside down, and the bottom (which is now at the top) is removed after withdrawing the pins E, which hold it to the boxbody. The box is therefore again open at the top, and evaporation and drying are now continued, the heating agent passing'through the material in the opposite direction to that during the first stage, so that a quick and thorough drying is obtained. 1 find that by the use of the abovedescribed improved box in the manner set forth I can effect a saving of one-third of the ment to said body, the top as well as the bottom comprising a skeleton frame with a central bar, and an apertured covering secured on the outside of the frame and passing on the inside of said central bars to form inwardly-converging inclined surfaces.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ADOLF WOLF.

Witnesses LOUIS J. ADAMS, MAURICE VAN VALKENBURG. 

